I’ve always been skeptical of TGL.
Not because I don’t think it’s good for golf. On the contrary, I think the alternative golf formats are much more inclusive and less boring than the standard PGA Tour fare.
That said, I always wondered if it would have staying power. An ESPN time slot helps, sure, but it only gets you so far.
So when I was invited by Genesis, the first founding sponsor of TGL, to attend a match, I jumped at the chance. I’ve tuned in a time or two, but I’m left with the notion that attending in person would be a better experience.
I was wrong, at least partially. Let me explain.
1. The place is much better in person
The cameras and production, while very well done, don’t give a clear enough picture of how vast the game space is. The screen is too big. The rolling green is a sight to behold. Every place in the house has a view of every picture.
The SoFi Center and everything it’s in is a great place to watch a sporting event. Heck, if I could rent it out for a day like Josh Allen did for his birthday, I totally would.
2. Live entertainment needs some juice
For my money, Roger Steele did the best he could with the entertainment in the game. It’s hard to get the warm-up crowd going when there are basically 10 people in the seats 15 minutes before kick-off.
I thought bringing some kids out and getting them in on the action was a nice touch. At times, the internal DJ felt a bit overbearing, especially when you’re trying to hear the pros talking to each other.
I’m not sure I have a good solution here. But Steele riding the wave with the crowd isn’t the best way to engage the fans, IMO.
The crowd never matched Steele’s energy, which made the whole thing feel a little lifeless (through no fault of his own).
3. Internal audio needs fixing, fast!
The part of TGL that everyone is fascinated with, myself included, is hearing the players talk to each other. We rarely get mic moments on tour, so it’s great to hear them banter and taunt each other.
The only problem is that I couldn’t hear them. When attending in person, they provide the audience with Bluetooth headsets to listen to the broadcast. But when you have hundreds of people trying to connect to a pair of headphones with the same name, it’s impossible to tell which pair you’re connecting to.
I started getting audio from a random person’s phone and had to turn my phone off. Neither could tune into the broadcast from my device, and the arena music made it impossible to hear the players in real time, even though I was sitting near the front near the bleachers.
4. TGL is better on TV
And now we come to the core of my article. I went into the experience wondering if it would be better in person. I left wondering why anyone other than fans of certain players or teams would attend in person.
Palm Beach is not the easiest to reach. Tickets are not that cheap. And watching players hit shots in a simulator is just as exciting in person as it is on screen. Where broadcast TV wins is, again, audio. You get the mic moments that I didn’t get to catch in the arena.
Will I be attending a TGL event in the future? Maybe not. I’ll stick with having him on weeknight TV where my BYU Cougars aren’t playing another Big 12 powerhouse.
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